Mukai Taiyō
'''Mukai Taiyou' is a student of Teito High School and the ace of its baseball team. He is a lefty sidearm pitcher and has debuted at the 89th Summer Koshien. Character Mukai is a side-arm pitcher confident in his pitching skills and believes himself to be the number one pitcher of his generation. Pitching has been tremendously fun to him since middle school and even considers himself addicted to it. Act I Fall Tournament In the first round of the Fall tournament, Teito High face against Seidou High. After Furuya strike out Kengo at the top of the first, Kengo praise Furuya and so does coach Okamoto. Mukai however, doesn't share the same opinion. Bottom of the first, Mukai utilizes the corners to strike out Kuramochi and successfully held Seidou scoreless up to the fourth. Due to the strong rain, the game was temporarily put on break before Teito's defense at the fifth inning. When the game resumed, Miyuki hits Mukai's pitch and runs all the way to second base.Act I - Chapter 246 Seidou however, has not scored despite being in the position to. Bottom of the sixth and with two outs, Mukai walks Kuramochi. Haruichi hits the first pitch next, and Kuramochi sprints to third. Now with two outs, runners on first and third, Mukai will face Seidou's clean-up batters. He lures Maezono into hitting a high ball that results to a fly ball to third. Bottom of the seventh, with a runner on first for Seidou, Sawamura bunts to hopefully move the runner to second but fails.Act I - Chapter 251 Bottom of the eighth, Mukai's pitch count has exceeded 120 but he strikes out Seidou's Higasa and Asou. He face Toujou next and wonders why Toujou is a fielder. Mukai had hoped that like they were in middle school, he and Toujou would square off again in High school. He gets a little irate that Toujou had allowed outsiders like Sawamura and Furuya to take over the mound. Toujou one-handedly swings his bat, hitting Mukai's pitch and the ball goes past second. Toujou gets on base, and determinedly looks at Mukai. Mukai gets annoyed as he thinks that even back in middle school, it was only Toujou who can hit his winning pitch.Act I - Chapter 253 Kuramochi is at-bat next and he bunts surprising Teitou. Kuramochi gets to second after Teitou makes an error in their defense while Tojou advances to third. Teito's battery decide to walk Haruichi, choosing to face Maezono instead. After a couple of throws, the count is 2B:2S. Maezono eventually hits the pitch and the runners get home. Seidou takes the lead at 1-3. Teito makes an effort to turn the game around at the last inning scoring one run, but Kawakami manage to successfully close the game despite the bases being loaded. After the match, Kengo tells Mukai that their off season will be longer but Mukai disagree saying that it will be over in a flash, if they focus on polishing their skills.Act I - Chapter 256 Act II Spring Tournament During the Spring Tournament quarter-finals, Teito High play against Ugumori High. At game time, Mukai and Kengo tries out their new style that's designed to decrease Mukai's pitch count, and their aggressive style has been effective against Ugumori's aggressive batters. At the bottom of the third, Teito scored a run giving them an early lead and at the top of the fifth, Mukai keeps his number of given up runs at zero.Act II - Chapter 25 Kengo follows suit hitting 2-RBIs. Bottom of the eighth, two outs, runners on first and second, Mukai battles Umemiya. Mukai attacks aggressively, throwing fastballs to the inside that Umemiya fouls. Umemiya eventually makes contact with a pitch but a fine play from Teito's second baseman prevents Ugumori from scoring. And with the Ugumori team failing to score the next inning, Teito High advances to the semis.Act II - Chapter 26 Skills Pitching: Mukai is a side-arm pitcher with excellent control of his pitches and he sees the strike zone as not only divided into 9 sections but in 3 dimensions, with depth.Act I - Chapter 240 He rarely throws meatballs, and finishes with a breaking ball. His pitches are difficult to hit widely making use of the zone corners, and batters get jammed by his low pitches.A meatball is an easy pitch right down the middle of the plate. During the Spring Tournament, Mukai style changes as he pitches more aggressively, persistently attacking the inside more often rather than utilizing the zone corners. He throws mostly fastballs to keep his pitch count low and mix his Screwball at decisive moments. Pitcher's Data This data is based on the official guidebook, it will only be changed if there is an official update! } |} Player Statistics This data is based on the official guidebook, it will only be changed if there is an official update! Trivia *'Rankings' from the guidebook: Official Guide Book - Omote **He ranks second in ball control (with You Shunshin ranking first). *Favorite food : Snack food Official Illustration Book *Best subject : Math *Hobby : Games, such as Winning Eleven and love simulations *According to Terajima's twitter, the Mukai-Inui battery are very devoted to their skincare. Name Etymology *Mukai (向井) - Direction Well *Taiyou (太陽) - Sun Gallery MukaiTai.png EndS2.card.8.png|Taiyou end card References fr:Mukai Taiyou Category:Characters Category:Pitcher Category:Male Characters Category:2nd Year High School Category:Players